* Astronomy

Astronomers Find Ice and Possibly Methane on Snow White, a Distant Dwarf Planet

Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have discovered that the dwarf planet 2007 OR10 - nicknamed Snow White - is an icy world, with about half its surface covered in water ice that once flowed from ancient, slush-spewing volcanoes. The new findings also suggest that the red-tinged dwarf planet may be covered in a thin layer of methane, the remnants of an atmosphere that's slowly being lost into space.
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Kuiper Belt Object (225088) 2007 OR10 is a trans-Neptunian object with an absolute magnitude of 1.7. This qualifies it as one of the largest dwarf-planet candidates: Mike Brown estimates that it is between Sedna and Quaoar in size.
Mike Brown's discovery team has nicknamed the object "Snow White", as it would have to be very large or very bright to be detected by their survey.
It is currently the largest known Solar System object without an official name.
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Google earth file: Kuiper Belt Object (225088) 2007 OR10.kmz (15kb, kmz)

Ephemeris

Date    TT    R. A. (2000) Decl.     Delta      r     Elong.  Phase     V
2011 08 01    22 19 22.0 -13 58 57  85.4545 86.3859   156.4     0.3    21.1
2011 08 02    22 19 19.7 -13 59 09  85.4487 86.3866   157.4     0.3    21.1
2011 08 03    22 19 17.5 -13 59 20  85.4432 86.3873   158.3     0.2    21.1
2011 08 04    22 19 15.2 -13 59 32  85.4380 86.3880   159.3     0.2    21.1
2011 08 05    22 19 12.9 -13 59 44  85.4330 86.3886   160.3     0.2    21.1
2011 08 06    22 19 10.5 -13 59 56  85.4283 86.3893   161.2     0.2    21.1
2011 08 07    22 19 08.2 -14 00 08  85.4239 86.3900   162.2     0.2    21.1
2011 08 08    22 19 05.8 -14 00 20  85.4197 86.3906   163.1     0.2    21.1
2011 08 09    22 19 03.5 -14 00 33  85.4159 86.3913   164.1     0.2    21.1
2011 08 10    22 19 01.1 -14 00 45  85.4123 86.3920   165.0     0.2    21.1
2011 08 11    22 18 58.7 -14 00 57  85.4090 86.3926   165.9     0.2    21.1
2011 08 12    22 18 56.3 -14 01 09  85.4060 86.3933   166.9     0.2    21.1
2011 08 13    22 18 53.9 -14 01 21  85.4032 86.3940   167.8     0.1    21.1
2011 08 14    22 18 51.4 -14 01 34  85.4008 86.3946   168.8     0.1    21.1
2011 08 15    22 18 49.0 -14 01 46  85.3986 86.3953   169.7     0.1    21.1
2011 08 16    22 18 46.6 -14 01 58  85.3967 86.3960   170.6     0.1    21.1
2011 08 17    22 18 44.1 -14 02 10  85.3951 86.3966   171.5     0.1    21.1
2011 08 18    22 18 41.7 -14 02 23  85.3938 86.3973   172.4     0.1    21.1
2011 08 19    22 18 39.2 -14 02 35  85.3927 86.3980   173.2     0.1    21.1
2011 08 20    22 18 36.7 -14 02 47  85.3920 86.3986   174.1     0.1    21.1
2011 08 21    22 18 34.2 -14 02 59  85.3915 86.3993   174.9     0.1    21.1
2011 08 22    22 18 31.8 -14 03 12  85.3914 86.4000   175.6     0.1    21.1
2011 08 23    22 18 29.3 -14 03 24  85.3915 86.4006   176.1     0.0    21.1
2011 08 24    22 18 26.8 -14 03 36  85.3919 86.4013   176.5     0.0    21.1
2011 08 25    22 18 24.3 -14 03 48  85.3926 86.4020   176.7     0.0    21.1
2011 08 26    22 18 21.8 -14 04 00  85.3936 86.4027   176.6     0.0    21.1
2011 08 27    22 18 19.3 -14 04 12  85.3949 86.4033   176.2     0.0    21.1
2011 08 28    22 18 16.8 -14 04 24  85.3965 86.4040   175.6     0.1    21.1
2011 08 29    22 18 14.3 -14 04 36  85.3984 86.4047   174.9     0.1    21.1
2011 08 30    22 18 11.8 -14 04 48  85.4006 86.4053   174.2     0.1    21.1
2011 08 31    22 18 09.4 -14 05 00  85.4031 86.4060   173.3     0.1    21.1

We nicknamed it Snow White.

The survey that found Snow White was specifically looking for quite distant things like Sedna; things that would help us better understand the beginning of the solar system. Snow White, we finally learned, was not like Sedna at all. It was just a normal Kuiper belt object found slightly far away. Bigger than most, but otherwise, as far as we knew, unremarkable.
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